I wanted to commemorate Cambria's first Halloween and Thanksgiving with some cute framed art. I found some great ideas on Pinterest that I used as a springboard for my ideas.
For the Halloween frame, I used a black ink frame to stamp Cambria's footprints on a piece of white cardstock. Ink is great at getting the little lines and details that are missed when using acrylic paint. I used a regular black Sharpie marker to freehand the phrase and a fine point Sharpie to write along the side of the footprint. I found some cute 3-D stickers and a Halloween garland on sale at Michael's that I used to decorate the photo mat.
For the Thanksgiving handprint, I found some 6x6" burlap frames for extra cheap at Walmart (less than $2 a piece!) I had Andrew hold Cambria while I painted her hand with brown acrylic paint and a foam brush. I kept the foam brush on the palm of her hand to keep it open as I brought her hand to the frame for transfer. It worked really well! I used the handle of the foam brush to create the dotted border and freehanded the turkey "feathers" with red, orange, and yellow paint. I used the very tip of the brush to make the turkey feet, beak and wattle. The eyeball was painted on with a stylus that had two differently sized tips.
Voila! Two cute Fall frames that were inexpensive and fun to create! I love that I was also able to capture this moment in time with Cambria as she seems to be growing so quickly every day.
Whenever either Andrew or I say the word "Tennessee," the other person HAS TO reply "Tennessee" as an homage to the Arrested Development's song:
{Here are two things about the music video that I noticed upon revisiting it. Number one and most importantly, it was shot in GEORGIA. Not cool, guys. And number two, the group dancing sequences remind me of the random (but iconic) dancing by the Peanuts gang in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."}
Naturally, when Andrew and I were making plans to drive to Tennessee for a quick weekend, that joke got used over and over with no signs of stopping.
When we first heard that BYU would be playing a football game against MTSU in Murfreesboro, we agreed that we would absolutely have to attend that game. Andrew's alma mater versus Cole's? Awesome! It was such a bonus that Cole and Emily stayed in Murfreesboro after graduation so we had a place to crash and family to visit. And I was giddy to get Julie and Cambria together again. I kept talking to Cambria about it all week. "Are you excited to see Julie?" and "Are you going to have so much fun with Julie?" I couldn't wait!
On Friday, October 31, Andrew got permission to miss two of his classes. He had to complete a makeup assignment for the missed classes and so after he felt like he had made some good progress on the homework, and Cambria had woken up from her morning nap, we loaded up in the car and took off.
We had a beautiful Fall drive through western Virginia and eastern Tennessee. The sky was a little overcast so we didn't have to worry about the sun shining in Cambria's eyes while we were traveling. She managed to fall asleep for 45 minutes on the drive thus confirming that she will do anything she can to NOT SLEEP in her carseat. Thankfully, she was pretty happy on the ride despite her lack of sleep.
Happy and loud.
And happiest when we sang "her jam" to her.
We got to Cole and Emily's right around bedtime for the girls. We tucked them in and I suggested watching something scary for Halloween. Something like that episode from the fourth season of "The X-Files" that gave me the heebie-jeebies when I was a teenager. Plus, it was mentioned in a KSL article of spooky TV shows.
Bad idea.
I'm not even going to post the original screenshot I found. But I will post a photo of the yummy Fall Munch Mix that Emily made.
Pretzels, cheese crackers, peanut butter M&M's (the difference maker), chocolate covered raisins, chocolate covered almonds, and candy corn. What I love about this treat is that everyone gets to sort through and find what they are in the mood for at that particular moment. Plus, you can leave the bowl out with company and it will get grazed on until it's gone. Love this!
The next morning the girls got us up bright and early. Cambria didn't sleep very well that night and she finally threw in the towel and wanted out of the nursery around 6:30. Some days I feel like there is not enough Dr. Pepper in the world to get me through!
It was fun to let Julie and Cambria play together. By "play together" I mean that Cambria brought a bunch of toys not to share with Julie and Julie had a bunch of toys to show Cambria and then take away from her.
But these two cousins both agree on one thing--they love the camera!
Like lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ove it!
I should take this moment to point out that I had an absolute and complete #photographyfail and forgot to switch my focus to the settings I really like and therefore most of the photos I took this weekend are blurry. Dangit. Big gosh dangit.
We decided to grab some lunch before the game which turned out to be a terrible idea. The restaurants around town were (obviously) packed! Emily called Toot's and was told that there was no wait. So we loaded up the car as quickly as you can possibly bundle up and secure two babies and headed right over only to find there was a 30+ minute wait.
I'm sure they got slammed in the ten minutes it took us to hang up the phone and get there.
We entertained ourselves as best we could.
Once we finally got seated, we entertained the girls as best we could.
I don't recommend this. This is terrible, dangerous parenting. DON'T try this at home. But, hey! We all survived. (And it was really funny!)
Julie and Cambria hadn't really slept all that well the night before. Their morning naps were cat naps at best and the football game started at 2:30--right in the middle of afternoon naps. We debated what to do and decided to just power through and leave at halftime (blasphemy according to Andrew but considering how terrible this season is going for BYU, he acquiesced.) 40-degree temperatures and exhausted 9-months olds are a tricky combination.
We went home, got the girls naps, and balance was restored to the universe at last. We watched the second half of the game from the warmth and coziness of the couch and BYU won!
It was so nice to kick back and spend a Saturday watching football game after football game. Usually, Andrew has a stack of homework and I'm trying to entertain Cambria which leaves the two of us wishing we could kick back and watch football. Too bad the Big Ten isn't giving me much to get excited about these past several years (and just when I married into a Pac-12 family!)
Sunday morning was another depressing parenting realization--the kind that makes you fondly reminisce about life "Before Children." It came in the form of an early morning wake-up call known as "The Switch to Standard Time." I'm not going to make the mistake of calling it Daylight Savings Time and have any know-it-alls call me on it. But one thing we can all agree on is that tie changes are THE DEVIL when you have children. Everyone else enjoys that extra hour of sleep as they lazily allow time to "Fall Back: while parents are laying face down on the floor of the nursery in complete and utter denial.
Julie and Cambria enjoyed the extra hour to play and banded together in a continuing nap strike.
We went to Cole and Emily's ward for sacrament meeting where I discovered in the Mother's Room that Cambria's love of the mirror and the selfie continue to flourish.
All too soon, we had to pack up and ship out. I continued to entertain Cambria with selfies and videos on the ride back to Virginia since she decided sleeping wasn't a good way to pass the time.
But, oh what joy as we pulled into our driveway! Any time we arrive home, we tell Cambria, "Home again, home again! Jiggity-jig!" and this time she became elated. You could tell she recognized where we were. She was smiling so wide and squealing! I carried her up the stairs as she jerked her head back and forth to take the sights in all at once. When we walked in the door she would not be pacified but continued to shout as she looked around at all of these familiar sights. I finally let her stand up against the hope chest in our front room ("her spot") and watched her take it all in.
It makes Andrew and I so happy as parents to know that we have created a safe and loving home that Cambria obviously loves so much.
This year, our Primary presidency was in charge of the tri-ward Trunk or Treat. I have never been to a Trunk or Treat before (they weren't around when I was growing up) so I was pretty excited about it! So much so, that I put it on our Fall Bucket List several years ago and have been waiting to check it off our list. The first year Andrew and I were married, the ward we lived in decided not to hold one so as not to appear exclusionary of others in the neighborhood. Last year, I was so sick with my pregnancy that I couldn't muster the energy to go. So this year was THE YEAR!
Due to some funny oversights, we didn't realize that our Primary/ward was hosting until mid-September. Oops! Since we were in the middle of preparations for our Primary program, we felt the need to streamline and simplify the event. It was a great decision! Also, one of the wards decided not to combine with us this year, so that made it a little easier to plan as well.
I arrived at the Church building a little early to help with set up on Wednesday, October 29. I took a few minutes to snap some photos of Cambria outside and looking so cute in her costume. I made her bow several months ago but the necklace and bracelet were something that I put together the day before. She loved to chew on her necklace which made it about the worst idea I have had. By the end of the night, her bracelet was in pieces on the gym floor and I was panic-texting Andrew to see if he thought I should take Cambria to the ER in case she had aspirated any of the little pieces. What are you supposed to use for toddler jewelry? Because thin stretchy elastic is not the answer.
After we got all set up, Lauren had a fantastic Halloween activity in the gym to start the festivities. There were different stations where families had to count different objects (carved pumpkins, spiders in a web, bats in a tree, etc.) and all of those different numbers led to a secret password. The tricky part was that there were five different versions of the game with multiple outcomes and so it took a little work to discover your family's unique password.
Once your family figured out the correct password, there was Trunk or Treating in the parking lot. Some of the decorations were really elaborate. It was cool to see what everyone came up with. Since our family was the Peanuts gang, we decorated our car to look like a pumpkin patch. (Thank you, Pinterest!) I made a "moon" out of posterboard and watercolors. Our "night sky" was the reverse side of the comforter in Cambria's nursery. The "ground" was Andrew's large green blanket. We scattered leaves around the car and brought our jack-o-lantern to set out.
Andrew took Cambria around for her first time collecting candy. She loved to sit and crinkle the wrappers! We were happy to share in her spoils as a "parent tax." We have to enjoy getting away with that while we can.
I served doughnuts and hot cocoa at the end of the activity for a light refreshment and the Young Men in our ward had apples on a string and caramel dipping sauce.
I brought my camera with me to take photos of the event but there just wasn't time. I wish, I wish, I wish that I had some pictures because I loved seeing our Primary children dressed up! ***I am soliciting any and all photos from the Lynchburg First Ward-ers who may be reading this post.***
Cambria lasted until 7:45 (an hour past her bedtime so no complaints from us!) and so I had to take her home. Andrew stayed to clean up and was home by 8:30. That's what I call a successful ward activity! Home at a decent hour!
I wanted to start a new tradition this year for what we eat on Halloween night before trick-or-treating. I want it to be super quick and easy for convenience's sake but I also want it to be memorable. I couldn't really come up with anything so Andrew and I had pizza and bottled root beer. It was tasty but I think I want to tweak our menu a bit for next time. So, I'm taking recommendations now. Because as the mayor of Halloweentown would say, "Only 364 days until next year!"
{We celebrated Halloween on the 29th since we would be driving to Tennessee on the 31st.}
When my Visiting Teacher, Jess Shorter, brought this fun costume over for a photo shoot with Cambria, I knew we were going to be in trouble! Cambria is such a girly girl and loves to play with any and all accessories. A big, puffy tutu would be no exception!
Kenzie Shorter was the first to model the tutu:
Followed by Brooklyn Malone:
It was Cambria's turn! The location was perfect. The lighting was magical. The model? She was tired and in tears.
At least she wasn't crying in this photo!
I had to wait a few weeks before trying again due to the weather. But I finally got some better photos.
Her cute head tilt slays me every time. I never get tired of it!
Eight months old with the cutest diaper bum around! Watching Cambria learn new things is probably more exciting for us as parents than it is for her. When Cambria picks up a new trick and we mimic it back to her, she smiles really wide as if to say to us, "You can do that, too? Good job!"
Andrew finally got his moment of glory. On October 4, Cambria started to make the "da" sound and added that into her mix of one-syllable sounds. Four days later, she was looking at Andrew and started to say, "Da-da" over and over. Andrew became a big ol' marshmallow about it (who wouldn't?) "Da" became the sound of the month and Cambria refused to say anything else. We both tried our darndest to coax "Ma" out of her again, but she just couldn't make it work. It reminded me of Coach Z from Homestar Runner. "Good jeeeee-yaaaaaarb, Cambria!"
I finally got around to getting a library card to the Forest library. It is a very small library but it is part of two larger library systems that share a catalog. I order the books that I want online and get a text when they are in so that I can quickly pick them up. I like to take Cambria to the library to play (new toys! big kids!) and we have even been to the toddler reading and singing time once. The library is next to a large Church playground that is open to the public as well as a really nice walking trail.
The fish links are her favorite toys to play with at the Forest Library
Cambria's feisty personality gets stronger every day. On October 10, I needed to take a toy away from Cambria to throw it in the wash and even though I gave her a different one to play with, she was pretty huffy about it. I've noticed that she has started to get a little territorial over her things.
Cambria is so vocal! She is super extra loud. Just in time for Halloween, she has this creepy moan that sounds like the moan from "The Grudge." Ick. Eek. I have started to rhythmically pat my hand over Cambria's mouth when she is too loud to quiet her down but this has led to her learning how to do it herself and now she loves to trill her lips while she is shouting like a screeching Indian brave.
On October 13, I spotted a second tooth! Her lower right central incisor is slooooooooowly creeping above the gum line.
Despite my mental preparation, I didn't react as I had planned when Cambria gave me a little bite while nursing. She nipped me and I cried out in alarm and hopped off the couch, remembering to grab Cambria before she fell out of my lap. I guess you're never ready for that one!
Cambria has started to pull on her hair while nursing. It's a cute little habit that she has. A lot more cute than the habit she has of giving Mommy a nice little tweak with her fingers when she is done with nursing. That took some effort to stop!
Cambria is hesitant to try new foods. However, she is really good at eating what we have given her so far now that she is used to it. Her absolute favorites are "the oranges" (sweet potatoes, carrots and squash) followed by "the greens" (GREEN BEANS! and peas). She is pretty good about eating bananas and tolerates pears and applesauce ("the yellows"). She got the hang of beef this month ("the meat pastes") and I am glad that she will be getting some iron in her diet that way since she never liked rice cereal.
We have tried some finger foods with Cambria such as bananas, avocados, black beans and Puffs, but those didn't go over very well. She is getting acclimated to the Puffs but, initially, I had to break them in half for her as she would gag on the full-sized pieces. Her pincer grasp is coming along and she successfully navigated a whole Puff into her mouth on October 22--with her left hand, might I add!
Cambria loves music. She dances to her Leapfrog alphabet caterpillar when it plays "The Alphabet Song." She just sits and scoots her bum in time to the music. It's so hilarious! We've always known that she loves to sing but we found a new trick at the end of the month. She was singing to herself and it sounded like Ariel from "The Little Mermaid." So now I sing "The Little Mermaid" to her and she tries to sing along. Andrew will say, "Keep singing!" like Ursula and it cracks all three of us up.
Cambria is a big fan of FaceTime, Google Hangouts and Sype--anything that let's her see herself and others. We try to talk to Andrew during his lunch break every day and she is so enthralled by it! One morning, I was looking at videos that Curt had posted of Ian and Cambria was so insistent that I show her the video.
Cambria was able to go to school with Daddy and meet with Dr. Davis to show her some cool new tricks. We are hoping we can help Cambria figure out the transition from sitting to crawling soon!
Cambria loves to stand up against the furniture! She will even shuffle around a bit and several times she has shakily gone from the hope chest to the couch and back again. The challenge is, she can't pull herself to standing yet and she hasn't mastered the art of getting back down, so Andrew or I have to hang out with her while she is up. If we aren't careful, she will pull a "Dead Man Fred" and fall backwards stiff as a board. That has led to a few bumps! She will pull herself up on one of us so we are hoping she is getting closer to pulling up on the furniture (time to drop the mattress in the crib again!)
Cambria managed to scoot herself over to our entertainment center and pull open the DVD drawer when I wasn't looking. Mischief making is about to commence...
Maybe next month, we will have a crawler:
Our family got a fun Halloween package from Grammy and Boompa about a week before the holiday. Cambria had fun opening it and liked the crinkly candy wrappers.
Cambria always shouts for joy when Daddy gets home from school!
After Daddy gets home, we like to walk down to the playground together and sit on the swings. Cambria loves to be outside and she has the biggest grin on her face as she sways back and forth on the swingset.
On October 28, Andrew found Cambria sleeping on her tummy in the crib. What a good trick since she slept soundly through the night! A cute thing that Cambria does when she sleeps is to take the loose ends of her swaddling blankets (we still use two each time she sleeps) and she will stroke her face with them as she is going to sleep. It's darling!
On October 30, Cambria successfully transitioned from sitting to forward on her hands and knees and then rolling onto her back after getting the toy she wanted. Baby steps for this girl!
For the Halloween frame, I used a black ink frame to stamp Cambria's footprints on a piece of white cardstock. Ink is great at getting the little lines and details that are missed when using acrylic paint. I used a regular black Sharpie marker to freehand the phrase and a fine point Sharpie to write along the side of the footprint. I found some cute 3-D stickers and a Halloween garland on sale at Michael's that I used to decorate the photo mat.
For the Thanksgiving handprint, I found some 6x6" burlap frames for extra cheap at Walmart (less than $2 a piece!) I had Andrew hold Cambria while I painted her hand with brown acrylic paint and a foam brush. I kept the foam brush on the palm of her hand to keep it open as I brought her hand to the frame for transfer. It worked really well! I used the handle of the foam brush to create the dotted border and freehanded the turkey "feathers" with red, orange, and yellow paint. I used the very tip of the brush to make the turkey feet, beak and wattle. The eyeball was painted on with a stylus that had two differently sized tips.
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